With A Herniated Disk Is Surgery Necessary?
Approximately 1% of the US population experiences pain from a herniated disc at any one point in time. About 25% of all people with back pain have a herniated disc, and over 90% of these occur in the low back.
What is the natural history of a lumbar herniated intervertebral disc? Does a person always need surgery for it or is it possible to get away with non-surgical treatment? Surgery is not mandatory when a person has a herniated disc. There are situations where surgery is recommended such as when there is a neurologic deficit that is getting worse from the pinched nerve.
For example if the individual has a herniated disc at the L4–05 area, the elf of nor root is typically being pinched. This is vital to being able to lift up the foot. So if it is bad enough an individual may not be able to lift up the foot and that is called a foot drop. If that is present for a long time it may be that despite a technically perfect surgery at some point the foot drop will not get better. Therefore having surgery within a month or so is typically indicated.
Lifetime’s doctors are able to prescribe painkillers or muscle relaxants or have the individual undergo a few epidural steroid shots. Along with chiropractors Mesa AZ treatment and physical therapy or maybe spinal decompression therapy the individual can probably avoid surgery and get back to being more functional. Over 90% of the time conventional conservative treatments are effective for a herniated disc where sciatica is being experienced.
Epidural steroid injections work approximately 70% of the time for significant pain relief. They do not fix the problem of the herniated disc, but may be able to provide enough of a Band-Aid for pain relief while the body itself disintegrates the piece of disc material that is outside the area where it is supposed to be. Studies have shown that patients who undergo surgery for a herniated disc versus patients who are treated not operatively end up doing the same at the one-year point.
So unless it is vital, individuals who are experiencing sciatica from a disc herniation should try nonsurgical treatment initially such as with a chiropractor Scottsdale AZ. If the person has trouble with bowel or bladder function that is in effect a surgical emergency and needs immediate treatment.
If the person has a neurologic deficit that is getting worse, that becomes a relative indication for surgery to get relief quicker and to get motor function back. If the whole decision is being based on pain though it truly is a quality-of-life decision and should be only shifted in the surgery if the nonoperative treatments fail such as at a Phoenix pain center.
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Tags: herniated disc, herniated disk, pinched nerve, Sciatica Treatment